Denial Of Access Research Articles

Prisoners Right to Healthcare, a European Perspective

The right to healthcare applies regardless of a person's legal status. Prisoners have a right to a healthcare equivalent to the one in the community at large: access to medical care and preventive measures of good quality and costs covered. States have a positive duty to provide for appropriate healthcare in prison, including harm reduction policies (for instance health screening, vaccination and needle exchange). Denial of access to appropriate health facilities to prisoners and other detainees is likely to result in bodily harm, unnecessary morbidity and avoidable death. Essential elements of the social right to care for the health of prisoners are protected through the positive obligations individual human rights impose on States (e.g., the right to life, the prohibition of torture, degrading treatment and punishment, the right to liberty and the right to private life). Health related human rights standards for prison healthcare have been formulated over worldwide and in Europe. The Council of Europe's Committee of Prevention of Torture monitors the situation of prisoners in Member States. Still, healthcare for prisoners falls short of what is required. Prison healthcare is an essential part of public health. A major involvement of the Minister of Health is indispensable.

Land, Labour and the Production of Affliction in Rural Southern Africa

In the colonial vision of Southern Africa, rural people were seen as both underemployed and self‐sustaining even while processes of commodification dependent on the exploitation of their labour were producing spatially and racially marked inequalities of wealth and consumption and related patterns of health and affliction. Affliction sometimes reflected denial of access to formal health provisioning, but it was also produced by the conditions of labour, including capital's largely successful struggle to externalize responsibility for the reproduction of its workers. This paper discusses various moments in the making of affliction in the region: the development of endemic tuberculosis, the resurgence of malaria, famine‐related paralysis and HIV/AIDS. These cases illustrate how affliction has been shaped by the weight of long‐term structural relations of class in the organization of labour and by the contingent outcomes of immediate political struggles. They suggest that efforts to improve health in Southern Africa today must address persistent structural patterns that underlie the causes of the incidence of disease; these are also relevant to questions of land reform.

Magnitudes And Dynamics Of Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence is the maltreatment and exploitation of one person by another person in the context of close relationship. It may include the behavior such as intimidation; harassment, and persecution, verbal aggression, denial of access to resources, sexual coercion assault, or physical assault or torture. Researchers have explore that intimate partner violence (IPV) can be described as violence committed by a spouse, ex- spouse, current or former girlfriend or boyfriend. The violence can be physical, sexual, psychological/emotional and financial in nature. The present study evens a small attempt to explore and study the association amid different individual, familial and societal level risk marker with intimate partner violence. This is an exploratory study in qualitative manners to analyze this millennium old phenomenon. The paper focuses first on the problems in defining what is meant by intimate partner violence. Secondly, it describes the difficulties in assessing the magnitude and risk factors of the problem. Finally, the paper examines the limitation and bias in legislation to end the problem.

Issues in the calculation of antitrust damages in the energy industry

In recent years, the "private enforcement" of antitrust law, through the attempt by private parties (usually harmed competitors or consumers) to recover damages in court, has been increasingly gaining attention in Europe. This paper focuses on two particular regulated network industries (electricity and gas). The purpose of this essay is, first, to describe the types of antitrust cases that could arise in the energy industry and, second, to outline the issues that a forensic economist would face in calculating damages to competitors or other parties in these cases. The identified anti-competitive practices range from the delay or the outright denial of access to major gas transportation pipelines (or the refusal to expand their capacity), unfair tariffs for the use of gas transportation networks and capacity hoarding at regasification terminals or in other gas import infrastructure, to the delayed provision of reliable information needed for customer switching and/or to allow a new entrant to plan its electricity and gas purchases and thus minimize imbalance charges. These practices might entail actual monetary loss (damnum emergens) due, for instance, to; higher energy costs for final consumers; sunk costs incurred by competitors to start import or sales activities; noncost- reflective tariffs for access to gas import or transportation infrastructure; excessive imbalance charges and transmission fees; high costs sustained by traders to purchase electricity or gas for resale. Moreover, they may entail lost profits and foregone cash flows (lucrum cessans) due, for instance, to: definitive loss of customers; inability to serve or invoice energy consumers in a given period; lack of access to entire segments of the electricity or gas markets.

Investigating the associations between hydration and exercise performance: methodology and limitations

Loss of body water, if sufficiently severe, impairs most physiological functions, but the body water content fluctuates over the course of a normal day with no implications for physical or mental performance. The point at which an effect of dehydration becomes apparent has been the subject of much debate, in part, at least, because of the different tests that have been applied, differences in the methodologies used to induce dehydration and also because of differences in the fitness and other physiological characteristics of the subjects studied. The act of drinking itself and the conscious denial of access to water will also have implications for subjective responses to the exercise task. In many published studies, it is difficult to separate the effects of ingestion of water from those of carbohydrate, electrolytes, and other drink components. Nevertheless, there is good evidence that drinking appropriate amounts of water, especially cold water, can enhance exercise performance in many situations.

Trends in the accessibility of public space in the post-Soviet metropolis: Shrinkage or expansion?

One of the main driving forces of the postsocialist social transformation is the process of privatization. Over the past twenty years, it has been expressed in the megalopolis in changes in the accessibility of public space. Some types of new urban property owners are interested in providing the maximum access to the territory that they control, whereas others prefer isolation from outsiders. Our field measurements of the results of the struggle between these two forces in St. Petersburg show the unconditional victory of the latter. Our study has revealed significant differences in the rate of denial of access to different types of residential areas of the city and has determined the participants in this process and their motives. There is some evidence that the market appeal of accommodation types is directly correlated with the degree of publicly accessible space shrinkage.

‘Many people know the law, but also many people violate it’: Discrimination experienced by people living with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam – Results of a national study

In Vietnam, discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) is defined within and prohibited by the 2007 national HIV/AIDS law. Despite the law, PLHIV face discrimination in health care, employment, education and other spheres. This study presents the first national estimates of the levels and types of discrimination that are defined in Vietnamese law and experienced by PLHIV in Vietnam. A nationally representative sample of 1200 PLHIV was surveyed, and 129 PLHIV participated in focus group discussions (FGDs). In the last 12 months, nearly half of the survey population experienced at least one form of discrimination and many experienced up to six different types of discrimination. The most common forms of discrimination included disclosure of HIV status without consent; denial of access to education for children; loss of employment; advice, primarily from health care providers, to abstain from sex; and physical and emotional harm. In logistic regression analysis, the experience of discrimination differed by gender, region of residence and membership status in a PLHIV support group. The logistic regression and FGD results indicate that disclosure of HIV status without consent was associated with experiencing other forms of discrimination. Key programme and policy recommendations are discussed.

Public health advocacy to reinstate reproductive rights of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTGs) in Chhattisgarh

Description of the problem Baigas, Pahari Korwas, Abujhmarias, Birhors and Kamars have been identified as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTGs) in Chhattisgarh. These communities face high levels of poverty, malnutrition, and limited access to health and nutrition services, manifested in high mortality rates. As a strategy for curtailing the once decreasing population of PTGs after 1979, Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh state government restricted sterilization among these tribal groups, attempting an increase in birth rate rather than a decrease in the mortality rate. Today, PTGs, unable to cope with their poverty and large families, are demanding the right to choose their family size and gain access to family planning services. PHRN and SHRC along with local organisations are attempting to impact policy on this issue through evidence building, community mobilisation and media advocacy. Methods The methods for this initiative included the following: A Study was conducted on access of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTGs) to health and nutrition services, status of their livelihoods, ownership of resources, entitlements under Forest Rights Act etc., among 1200 households of Baiga, Pahari Korwa and Kamar communities in Kawardha, Sarguja and Gariaband Districts respectively. Sammelans were organised of PTG communities and PTG Mitanins (ASHAs) at the Block level to present study findings, case studies and facilitate articulation of demands by the PTG community in the presence of government officials, and media. The original order of 1979 related to sterilisations among PTGs was accessed and analysed Media advocacy was undertaken Policy advocacy was undertaken using the emerging evidence and demands of the community. Main findings The study showed that the access of PTG families to various health services is limited. Only 32% of the PTG families interviewed had received RSBY cards out of which 4% had used the card, though 85% were Antyodaya beneficiaries. Only in 6% of the families had women benefitted from JSY. The study findings were shared during the Sammelan and the PTGs demanded access to permanent family planning methods, expressing their inability to sustain large families in their current state of impoverishment. Many families had undergone permanent sterilisation under a false name/caste. The administrators, including District Collectors, Block officials and Health Department personnel were sensitised towards the plight of the PTGs and their demands. The order of 1979 of the Government of MP related to PTG sterilisations was not available at the state level and was finally accessed at the district. Analysis of the order showed that the order itself did not propose a ‘ban’ on permanent sterilisations for PTGs. It had been interpreted and operationalised as a ban, which continues till today. The media was educated on the subject. They took up this issue in a big way and many newspapers did follow up investigative reporting by visiting various PTG communities. Quoting all this evidence, SHRC Chhattisgarh formally wrote to the Director, Health Services, Chhattisgarh to revoke this order. Discussion including recommendations PTGs are one of the most pauperised of tribal communities whose traditional livelihoods have been destroyed. Though the issues of health and nutrition are very severe among these groups, they are the ones with least access to health and nutrition services, manifested in high malnutrition and mortality rates. In such a situation, the negative implications of the ‘ban’ on sterilisation, on their lives are enormous. As a result they remain the most marginalised and vulnerable of tribal groups. Denial of access to family planning services and of the right to choice one’s family size is a denial of basic human rights and therefore this has to be put right at the earliest. It has to go hand-in-hand with interventions to improve their livelihoods, reduce malnutrition and improve their access to nutrition and health schemes/services. Organisations of PTGs themselves should be empowered to put forward these demands and participate in planning and monitoring initiatives meant for them. This process has started in the Blocks where this initiative took place and gradually a consensus is building up within the government in Chhattisgarh on revoking the order and reinstating the reproductive rights of the PTGs. Conflict of Interest Statement The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Search, Essential Facilities, and the Antitrust Duty to Deal

The Federal Trade Commission recently voted unanimously to close the portion of its antitrust investigation into Google's search practices without filing a complaint. The agency apparently concluded that the firm's practice of favoring its own content in search results did not violate U.S. antitrust laws. This paper suggests that the FTC's decision was correct. Seeking the competitive advantages inherent in integration, which is what preferential treatment of one’s own property is about, is usually not unlawful. This article examines whether “essential facilities” and the duty-to-deal nonetheless provide a basis for prohibiting this practice, as some have suggested, and concludes that they do not. On the threshold monopoly power issue, most assume, based on Google’s high percentage of general search queries, that Google has monopoly power. This paper analyzes why this assumption, though intuitively appealing, is incorrect. It also considers other problems with invoking either principle in the display of search results. For essential facilities, for example, important issues regarding which is the alleged essential facility, whether there is denial of access, and whether the facility is capable of being shared have been largely overlooked. Yet they present major challenges for the application of the doctrine in the search context. For the duty-to-deal, it is equally difficult to see how the principle, rarely applicable, can be made to apply.This paper also questions a fundamental assumption embedded in the discourse -- that the favoring of one’s own property in search results, being good for a search engine, must be anticompetitive. Antitrust law is consumer-centric, and practices that benefit search users, while also benefiting the search engine, would not be anticompetitive even if they incidentally hurt some competing providers. The paper ends with a discussion of some policy issues and concludes that they generally cut in favor of allowing search engines to incorporate new features and redesign their product, even if that might unfortunately adversely impact some competitors in ancillary markets.

Building, Supporting, and Sustaining a Network for HIV-Infected Health Workers: Interview With Phyllis Kisabei, CHRN

The HIV pandemic has significant negative implications for the availability of human resources in many sub-Saharan countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2007), Africa bears 25% of the global disease burden but has only 1.3% of the global health workforce. This represents only 0.8 of a health care worker (HCW) per 10,000 inhabitants. Consequently, attaining the United Nations Millennium Development Goals’ (UNMDGs) target indicators of 2.5 HCWs per 10,000 inhabitants by 2015 remains a formidable challenge for most health systems in Africa (WHO, 2007). My home country, Kenya, is home to an estimated 2 million HIVinfected people (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS & World Health Organization [UNAIDS/WHO], 2008). As in other African countries, HIV-related death is regrettably the number one cause of health care personnel attrition in Kenya (UNAIDS, 2006; Liese & Dussault, 2004; M edecins Sans Fronti eres, 2007). Unquestionably, if Kenya is to attain the UNMDGs, the impact of HIVon Kenya’s workforce must be understood. HIV-infected HCWs face enormous challenges in the workplace, which may include infringement on human rights; denial of access to adequate health care; denial of home-based care; termination or refusal of employment; and denial of the right to earn income, produce food, or obtain loans (Kohi et al., 2006). Reducing stigmatizing attitudes and improving work environments may improve the quality of health services and ultimately the health and well-being of HCWs and the patients they serve (Mbeba et al., 2011). Therefore, clinics for staff and

Consequences of Water Induced Disasters to Livelihood Activities in Nepal

BACKGROUND: The changes in the climatic conditions have brought potentially significant new challenges, most critical are likely to be its impact on local livelihoods, agriculture, biodiversity and environments. Water induced disasters such as landslides, floods, erratic rain etc., are very common in developing countries which lead to changes in biological, geophysical and socioeconomic elements. The extent of damages caused by natural disasters is more sever in least developing countries. However, disasters affect women and men differently. In most of the cases women have to carry more burden as compared to their male counterpart during the period of disasters. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study examines the impact of disasters on the local livelihood especially agriculture and income generating activities of women in three districts of Nepal. The study uses the primary data collected following an exploratory approach, based on an intensive field study. The general findings of the study revealed that women had to experience hard time as compared to their male counterpart both during and after the disaster happen. Women are responsible for caring their children, collecting firewood, fetching water, collecting grass for livestock and performing household chores. Whereas, men are mainly involved in out-migration and remained out-side home most of the time. After the disaster occurred, most of the women had to struggle to support their lives as well as had to work longer hours than men during reconstruction period. Nepal follows patriarchal system and men can afford more leisure time as compared to women. During the disaster period, some of the households lost their agricultural lands, livestock and other properties. These losses created some additional workload to women respondent, however at the same time; they learn to build confidence, self-respect, self-esteem, and self-dependency.Although Nepal is predominantly agriculture, majority of the farmers are at subsistence level. In addition, men and women have different roles which differ with the variation in agro-production systems. Moreover women are extensively involved in agricultural activities though their importances were not recognized. Denial of land ownership and denial of access to resources as well as migration of male counterparts are some of the major reasons for affecting the agricultural environments for women in Nepal. CONCLUSION: The shelter reconstruction program has definitely brought positive change in women's access to decision making. The gradual increase in number of women respondent in access to decision making in different areas is a positive change and this has also provided them with a unique opportunity to change their gendered status in society.Furthermore, the exodus out-flow of male counterparts accelerated the additional burden and workload on women.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Versus Disaster Risk Creation (DRC).

In understanding and trying to reduce the risk from disasters, connections are often articulated amongst poverty, vulnerability, risk, and disasters. These are welcome steps, but the approach taken in top-down international documents is rarely to articulate explicitly that vulnerability accrues from a wide variety of dynamic and long-term processes. Neglecting these processes—and failing to explore their links with poverty, risk, and disasters—tends to encourage disaster risk creation. This paper identifies seven examples of on-the-ground realities of long-term vulnerability within two clusters: Endangerment: 1 Environmental degradation. 2 Discrimination. 3 Displacement. Impoverishment: 4 Self-seeking public expenditure. 5 Denial of access to resources. 6 Corruption. 7 Siphoning of public money. Examples are presented as vignettes, many contemporary and many rooted in historical contexts, to demonstrate the extent to which “vulnerability drivers” emanate from greed, the misuse of political and commercial power, mismanagement and incompetence amongst other behaviours. Moving forward to the tackling of disaster risk creation, instead of simply seeking disaster risk reduction, requires detailed investigation into these contemporary and historical realities of the causes of vulnerability. That would support the integration of disaster risk reduction within the many wider contexts that foment and perpetuate vulnerability.

Poverty, human rights and access to justice: Reflections from Nigeria

In Nigeria, poor people are vulnerable to various human rights abuses. Their guaranteed rights under the Constitution are being infringed on a daily basis and this is exacerbated by persistent denial of access to justice. The article highlights obstacles that the poor encounters when seeking justice and at the same time suggests policy responses for overcoming them. Towards this end, the article analyses the concept of fundamental rights as enshrined in the 1999 Nigerian Constitution and the impact on the rights of the poor to access justice. Furthermore, the article evaluates the capabilities of the court’s system as a whole, as well as the judiciary and argues that unless the judiciary is independent, access to justice by the poor will continue to be a mirage. The article examines jurisprudence of other jurisdictions and draws useful inspirations from them to explain why justice is so important for poor people and introduces a broad range of responses in the areas of legal and institutional reforms. Key words: Poverty, human rights, justice.

Women – Issues in Development and Empowerment

Women are mostly venerated and found valuable. Yet they are often invisible in the development scenario. Denial of access and opportunities to rightful place, possession and position to women begins from home and extends beyond to schools and other institutions of learning and work. Differences in avenues to growth and development thus, become issues. The issues become areas of concern, not just for women, but for the entire society. Empowerment becomes the means of achieving gender equity with dignity. This paper discusses some issues in women empowerment as they develop and are seen in the fields of education, media etc. The paper also makes some suggestions to deal with the problems of injustice and oppression.

Access to Justice for Small Amount Claims in the Consumer Marketplace: Lessons from Australia

This paper addresses the problem of small amounts claims in the marketplace for consumer goods and services. The small amounts claims problem arises from what is in effect a denial of access to justice, a right to which all members of a democratic society are entitled. A rationale is offered for a broad definition of ‘justice’ in the consumer marketplace. The effectiveness of Australian measures to address access to justice is outlined including the operation of the ‘supertribunal’ approach as exemplified by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. This is approach is contrasted with Ontario’s ‘clusters’ approach to dealing with inefficiencies arising from a proliferation of tribunals. The operation and effectiveness of the industry-funded Financial Ombudsman Scheme to protect consumers receiving financial services advice is examined. Finally, the operation of litigation funding in Australia is examined along with its impact on providing access to justice for a wider group of consumers.

Effect of alternative models for increasing stocking density on the short-term behavior and hygiene of Holstein dairy cows

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate short-term responses in lying behavior and hygiene of Holstein dairy cows housed at a stocking density of 100 (1 cow per stall and headlock) or 142% imposed by 1) the denial of access to freestalls and headlocks, 2) the denial of access to freestalls, headlocks, and 26.6m2 of alley space, or 3) the addition of a rotating group of 14 cows to the resident group of 34 cows. The secondary objective was to determine the bioequivalence of the 3 methods of experimentally increasing stocking density. Cows (n=136) were assigned to 1 of 4 pens in a 4-row freestall barn and treatments were allocated using a 4×4 Latin square with 14-d periods. Lying time (h/d) and number of bouts/d for 12 focal cows per pen were determined using dataloggers recording at 1-min intervals during the final 5 d of each period. Dry matter intake (DMI) was established from the pen mean over the final 4 d of each period. Feeding and rumination activities on focal cows were determined by direct observation at 10-min intervals for 24h on d 11. Hygiene of focal cows was assessed from the difference in the scores after the legs and udder were cleaned on d 2 of each period and those on d 14. Lying time was greater for 100% stocking density (13.0h/d) than the 142% stocking density treatments (11.8h/d), which did not differ. Lying bouts (12.3/d) and bout duration (64.8min/bout) did not differ among treatments. Short-term responses in DMI (24.6kg/d) did not differ in response to the treatments. The 3 stocking density treatments decreased, or tended to decrease, the time spent feeding compared with 100% (4.4 versus 4.2h/d). The stocking density treatments decreased the percentage of rumination occurring within a stall (92.3 versus 85.3%). A treatment effect on udder and leg hygiene scores was not evident on d 14 of each period or in the change from d 2 to 14 of each period. With the exception of rumination time (h/d), the 3 methods for experimentally imposing stocking density were bioequivalent for responses in behaviors, DMI, and hygiene. Future stocking density experiments in 4-row barns should simply deny resting and feeding space to simulate overcrowded housing conditions for lactating dairy cows because it is bioequivalent to more complicated, and potentially confounding, research models.

SAME‐SEX DIVORCE IN A DOMA STATE

When marriages fail, access to judicial divorce is crucial, and typically readily available. When faced with petitions for divorce from same‐sex couples, however, courts in states with Defense of Marriage Acts (DoMAs) are flummoxed; indeed, more often than not, courts in DoMA states refuse access to divorce to same‐sex couples. In this essay, we demonstrate that the courts are wrong. First, the denial of access to divorce is bad policy because it traps couples in defunct relationships and leaves families in a sort of legal limbo—married in some jurisdictions, not married in others, and unable to achieve the finality of divorce. Second, it is constitutionally suspect because the denial of access to divorce violates principles of substantive due process and constitutes unconstitutional discrimination under established equal protection jurisprudence. Finally, the denial of same‐sex divorce is premised on an unnecessarily narrow view of judicial power. State courts, even in DoMA states, have the power to hear and decide divorce petitions—same‐sex or not. In addition, this essay articulates various paths to obtaining same‐sex divorce in DoMA states.Key Points for the Family Court Community: State courts’ refusals to grant a same‐sex divorce is a violation of the petitioners’ federal constitutional rights State courts have subject‐matter jurisdiction over same‐sex divorce—even in states with DoMAs that prohibit the court from recognizing same‐sex marriage. State courts have the power to grant a same‐sex divorce—even in states with DoMAs that prohibit the court from recognizing same‐sex marriage. State courts can grant a same‐sex divorce by applying their own divorce statutes; by applying the divorce statutes of the marrying state; or through their equitable powers—even in states with DoMAs that prohibit the court from recognizing same‐sex marriage.

Defense and Monitoring Model for Distributed Denial of Service Attacks

Due to emergence of wireless networks and immense use of hand held devices, wireless networks encounter a great threat of denial of service attack. Traditionally IP-Based Filtering has been used to combat these attacks, however studies shows that thousands of distributed zombies work in cooperation generate huge network traffic that result in distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks and illegitimate access to resources and services. In this paper, first we studied attacks and mitigation scenarios to analyze network wide DDoS security anomalies. This will help us to drive supplementary active measurements to characterize the strength and characteristic of attacks to improve correlation of our log data and with other publicly available network traffic analysis data. Secondly, we presented a monitoring scheme to simulate a variety of attacks on different mobile operating system. This will identify the potential threat of different DDoS attacks for such platform and traffic scanning activity to avoid detection of attacks such as Ping to Death DDoS attack. Third, we followed proceedings of an enduring basis to extort trends in the attack frequency, make-up, and production of extensive DDoS attacks. This longitudinal analysis was necessary for understanding the progression of the threats and vulnerabilities. In conclusion, while analyzing our early results concerning large-scale DDoS attack. We used a hybrid approach to diminish and prevent the attack. Network Simulator 2 (NS-2) is used to imitate the real environment and to create attack traffic with different attack strength. The simulation results are encouraging as we were able to establish, and approximate strength of DDoS attack efficiently

The importance of pre-laying behaviour and nest boxes for laying hen welfare: a review

The housing of commercial laying hens in conventional cages is one of the most contentious animal welfare issues in animal production in Australia and other developed countries. The main issues are restriction of space and opportunity to perform ‘natural’ behaviours such as pre-laying behaviour, dust bathing and roosting. The provision of a nest box is argued by some to be essential for laying hen welfare. While the majority of hens (at least 70%) will lay in a nest box if provided, neither the lack of a nest box nor the sudden denial of access to a nest box, result in adverse welfare based on physiological stress response measured via corticosterone concentrations in either plasma or egg albumen. However, recent research suggests that hens that spent more time sitting during the 2 h before egg laying had lower plasma corticosterone concentrations, when sampled ~4–5 h post-egg laying. On the other hand, hens that displayed more bouts of sitting before egg laying, perhaps suggesting they were more frequently disturbed and thus less settled, had higher corticosterone concentrations. One function of nest boxes might be to provide those hens that choose to lay there with a location where they are less disturbed before egg laying. Further research on the effects of pre-laying behaviour and nest site selection on physiological stress in laying hens may provide important information regarding how to house commercial laying hens for good welfare.

Antitrust and Vertical Integration in “New Economy” Industries with Application to Broadband Access

Whether the firms that supply Internet hardware and software should face restrictions on the use of their property is an important and controversial policy issue. Advocates of “net neutrality”—including President Obama and the current FCC majority—believe that owners of broadband distribution systems (hardware used to distribute Internet and video services) and producers of certain “must-have” video content should be subject to prophylactic regulation that transcends present-day antitrust law enforcement. In the economic terms that are used in debates on competition policy, the concern is with vertical integration that may give firms both the opportunity (through denial of access or price discrimination) and incentive (increased profit) to restrict competition. This paper’s central point is that virtually every production process in the economy is vertically integrated, and economics predicts changes in the extent of vertical integration—that is, changes in the boundaries of the firm—in response to changes in relative prices, technology, or institutions. Both vertical integration and changes in the extent of vertical integration are benign characteristics of efficient, dynamic, competitive markets. While there is no shortage of theoretical models in which vertical integration may be harmful, most such models have restrictive assumptions and ambiguous welfare predictions—even when market power is assumed to be present. Empirical evidence that vertical integration or vertical restraints are harmful is weak, compared to evidence that vertical integration is beneficial—again, even in cases where market power appears to be present. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that prophylactic regulation is not necessary, and may well reduce welfare. Sound policy is to wait for ex post evidence of harm to justify interventions in specific cases. Net neutrality, recently enacted by the FCC but subject to judicial review, is an unfortunate idea.